A new blog

So, I was going to add pictures of Halloween last week and apparently I am out of space for pictures on this blog.  Who knew?  I didn't realize you could run out of space.  So, I am in the process of putting a new blog together for our fam.  Stay tuned.  I am sure it will blow your mind.  :)

Hill Billy

We had visits from both sides of our family this month.  Mat's Mom and sisters came during UEA (a Utah thing that means a long weekend).   My parents came for Halloween.  We were spoiled to see them all and have lots of fun and food while they were here.  Sadly, I did not pull my camera out to take any cute pics of the girls with the fam.  However, I did get it out to show off the new pups!

My mom and dad's dog, Sadie, had puppies about four weeks ago.  The story is a sad one.  A year ago Sadie had two puppies, one of which my parents kept.  His name is Marco Polo.  He is a bad dog.  He got his mom pregnant.  Puppy Social Services should be all up in their business! 

We were prepared for hill billy puppies.  However, so far, they look and act pretty normal! :)

Sadie is a purebred and was bred the first time with a pure.  This time, not so much!  They will still make great pets, just not the pure line that Sadie has! 

Without further ado, here are the pups!

ALVIN aka Kat's favorite!

(I should have zoomed in, or cropped the photo, but then you might not get how tiny he is!)

SIMON

He has the cutest face!

THEODORE

His coat is beautiful!

ELEANORE

The lone female and the chubbiest!

All of the puppies asleep on each other!  So cute!

The pups are for sale and ready to go to new homes.  If you are interested let me know and I will get you more info.  They would make great Christmas presents! :)

A few more of my cute Kat!

I have a few more pics of Kat Cheerleading.  It's a lot of pics, I know!  But, I wanted to add these to the mix for when I print off my blog for the year.  She looks so cute cheering, I couldn't help it!

Kat's Cheerleading Class

Kathryn just finished up a Cheerleading Class at the Rec Center.  She had a great time learning the cheers and stunts that Cheerleaders learn.  She really wants to take another class!  I want her to take a tumbling class just to get the hang of the basics of tumbling first, and then she will be able to do even more with cheerleading.

She did a great job learning the cheers.  She was one of the loudest girls (I wonder where she gets that from?!?)  She was even one of the only ones to show 'Spirit' at the end of the cheers! 

I am so glad she had a great time and found something she enjoys!  We will definitely have to keep going at t and see where it takes her!

A Good Week

This past week has been a good week.  Kat has been on some med that has totally helped.  It is amazing to see my beautiful, sweet daughter again!  I didn't realize how bad it had gotten until it was getting good again! 

Kat has been in control of her emotions and it has been like a 180 around here.  One day she forgot her lunch.  I was on Emma's field trip and couldn't get home in time to get her lunch over to the school before lunch.  I was prepared for a total melt down when I picked her up from school.  Instead, she said she was a little upset, but understood why I didn't bring it over.  Then, she said she was really hungry because the school lunch that day was bean burritos (which she won't eat) and so all she ate was a roll.  That's it.  Not even a tear!  That was the day that I knew we were doing the right thing and needed to continue forward in figuring out what's going on with her little body!

Yesterday I was trying to help her do a cartwheel outside and she fell on the ground.  I could tell she was frustrated.  (She has been taking Cheerleading classes and for some reason can't quite get the hang of cartwheels!)  She got up and stomped off.  I told her I was done helping her and we went inside.  She didn't cry or breakdown, but she had a little bit of a pouting fit.  After about ten minutes she came to me and apologized for getting upset at me.  What?!?!  I was shocked.  I almost cried.  It has been a long time since she has realized on her own that she was wrong and needed to apologize. 

I am so happy that she is happier.  You can see it in the way she acts; you can see it in her eyes; you can see it in her attitude. 

She had an appointment on Friday for the ultrasound on her Thyroid, so now we are waiting to see the results from that.  Hopefully it will be good news - no tumor, or enlarged thyroid - just overacted and easily treated. 

Also on Friday she was elected by her classmates as Class President!  That was such a nice thing for her!  A few of the kids in her class gave her little notes saying how they thought she was pretty, nice, and a great friend.  This is something she really needed and I can see how excited she is!

It has been a good week and I am so thankful for that!

Park Day

Emma had a field trip to a park on Thursday!

I went with her and it was a lot of fun to see Em interact with the other kids in her class.

The kids sang us some of the songs they have been learning.  They had story time with their teachers while the parents signed up for snack and party duty.  The kids then got to do their craft - a plant pot with seeds because they have been learning about how seeds grow.

Then they got to play in the water feature!  (yup, it was warm enough to run and play in the water on the last day of September!  A little sad if you ask me!)

I swear, she is such a poser!  I told her I wanted a pic of her going down the slide.  She wouldn't budge until I took a few pics of her! 

Playin' in the Water!

We had lots of fun on Emma's first field trip!

(Pics are before church last week.  It was our Primary Program and so the girls were all prettied up and I made them pose for a pic!)

I have been bad about keeping up with this blog.  I guess I think to only post about the positive things - the fun times, the vacations, the good things the girls do.  I figure people don't want to read about the unfun things; the trials and the stress.  We haven't been up to much 'fun' as of late, so her is run=down of our 'unfun' life!

Life has been ok.  The girls have been have been in school and doing well.  Emma loves Preschool and all the fun that comes with it.  I have not seen one tear from her or any 'I don't want to go to school'.  When I drop her off in the mornings she just marches herself right in the building and barely even acknowledges that I am leaving her!  I guess it is a good thing that she is pretty independent and loves doing things on her own.

Kat likes school.  Not loves, but likes it.  She likes her teacher and has made a couple of friends.  She has had a few issues that we have been dealing with and hopefully will be able to have answers to soon.  At her back to school check up her dr ordered some blood work to be done.  A few weeks later (on my birthday, actually) we went in for the blood draw.  She was so brave!  She didn't even cry or complain!  They took a ton of vials of blood!  Even the nurse kind of looked at me like 'Your dr ordered all of these?!?"

A week or so later we got a call with the results.  Kat's thyroid levels are abnormal.  Obviously, I  hopped right on line to see what that even means!  The only thing I really knew about  the Thyroid is that people blame it when they are overweight!  "I have a thyroid issue". 

Anyway, after reading a lot about the Thyroid, I realized how much of the body it actually effects - including your mood and energy levels.  Looking back, over the past couple of months, I realized how out of control Kat's emotions had become.  She has always been a bit of an introvert and quick to get embarrassed or frustrated.  But as of late, she cries at the drop of a hat (or type of sock, or Em looking at her, or shoes too tight) and is acting 'depressed'.  She is always sad and way too hard on her self.  I realized that life for Kat is no fun.  She is not a kid.  She worries over everything and everything is sooo important.  She can't kick back and relax. 

I told the nurse this and we got Kat on some meds to help try to calm her down a little.  She has been on them for about a week now and I can honestly tell a difference.  She is still moody and emotional, but not on edge all the time.  It has kind of mellowed her out a little.  Hopefully it will only continue to improve.

Tomorrow I take her in for an ultrasound and we will start her on another med for the thyriod and try to get that under control. 

It has made me sad to watch her and see how painful life must be.  It has made me a lot more patient with her because I know it isn't her and she isn't trying to be difficult!  I love her so much and just want her to be happy and enjoy life!  I will keep you posted on what we find in the next week.

So there is a little about the girls. 

Mat is still in school and is glad to be more than half way done!  He is also working full time for the State of Nevada.  He likes the work.  Hates the bosses.  He is looking for other positions within the state and hopefully will find something.  It is hard to have to go to work and be cussed out for everyone's problems.

I am working, PTA'ing and still in Primary.  I am usually busy, but I really enjoy working with the kids at church and school.  Knowing that I am helping them have a better learning environment makes me feel like I am doing something important.

I hope everyone is well.  We are planning a trip up to Utah for Christmas and hopefully we will  be able to see a lot of you!

Take Care!

Loves!

Kat's First Day of 3rd Grade!

Kathryn started 3rd grade last week!  She is now at the 'big kid' school!  *sniff*

(K-2 goes in one building and 3-5 goes in another; like having two school right next door).

I can tell she is growing up because she only posed for one 'official' picture! 

She is very excited to start 3rd grade.  She has a male teacher this year, he is a retired Air Force guy, and I think he will be a great teacher for her.  Kat says she likes him and he is a nice teacher.  She has already made a couple of new friends at school (which is HUGE for her!)  She will be learning and perfecting her cursive writing, multiplication tables, and lots of other great stuff! 

Kat has had a really good first week of school and is excited for this year.   

 Here we go!

 Emma and I walked her in to the playground and helped her find her class line. 

Then it was time for one last hug!

Hope you have a great year!  We love you so much!

Emma's First Day of Preschool!

Emma was soooo excited to start school!  She has been asking for weeks when it would start!  She picked out her outfit for her big day and everything!  She started on Aug 24, but the two days she went that week she only was there for an hour.  Tomorrow will be her 'official' first day of being there for the whole 3 1/2 hours!

She loves school!  She loves playing with her new friends, making crafts, singing songs, and having snack time!  I have a feeling she will be a great student and friend! 

I can not believe she is in preschool already!  It seems like yesterday that she was just a baby and we were taking Kat to preschool!  She is such a special girl and has such spunk!  I don't know what we would do without her! 

 She is such a poser!  When ever I pull out the camera, she strikes a pose!  Love it!

 Emma really wanted to buy a new book bag, but I knew they were giving her a new bag.  She is excited to have a bag that is all hers!  She won't even let Kat near it! :)

We love you Emma!  Have a great year in Preschool!

Back To School Fashion Show!

For Family Home Evening last week we had a 'Back To School Fashion Show!' 

I figured the girls would love it and have fun showing daddy their new clothes!  Afterward, daddy gave the girls each a blessing for the coming school year.  It was a good chance for the girls to get ready for school and get excited about the new experiences!

Em is such a poser!  She is super excited for Preschool to start! 

This year, I let Kat pick out whatever she wanted for clothes.  I tried not to persuade her at all and just let her pick her own style.  She picked out lots of cute stuff!

Emma likes to pose with 'things'!  I guess she needs props!

This dress is super cute and Kat loves it!

 When Em saw this Spongebob shirt she 'had' to have it!  She asks every day to wear it, but I won't let her until it cool off some more!

Emma had to have a picture of her new tennis shoes so her Grandmas could see how cute they were.  This picture is for you Grandmas!

This skirt was one of Kat's favorite finds!  She found it in clearance at Walmart!  (I guess I have rubbed off on her!  She likes looking in clearance to find a good deal, just like me!)

She also loved this t-shirt from Old Navy because is says Paris on it!  She loves anything Paris-y!  She wants to go there someday!

Again, Em needs props!

This year I was able to buy the girls a few matching things!  I get Em a XS and Kat a XL!  How cute are they?  (Kat told me she will not be 'matchy' with Em in public!  What?!?!)

And one final pic of my little poser!